The Copper Gauntlet

He headed into his bedroom and pulled his canvas duffel out from under the bed. He stuffed it quickly with clothes, tossed Miri in, and, after a moment of thought, returned to the main room to add what was left of the Ruffles chips. He’d need to have something to eat on the road.

He was just swinging the bag over his shoulder when the door opened again and Tamara and Aaron came in. Aaron was carrying a pile of books, his and Tamara’s, and she was laughing at something he’d said. For a moment, before they saw Call, they looked carefree and happy, and he felt his stomach tighten. They didn’t need him, not as a friend, not as a part of their apprentice group, not as anything but a cause of strife and argument.

Tamara caught sight of him first, and the smile slid off her face. “Call.”

Aaron shut the door behind them and set down their books. When he straightened up, he was staring at the boots on Call’s feet and the duffel in his hand.

“Where are you going?” Aaron asked.

“I was going to walk Havoc,” Call said, indicating the wolf, who was darting merrily between them.

“And you needed to pack for a week?” Tamara pointed at his duffel. “What’s going on, Call?”

“Nothing. Look, you don’t need to — you don’t need to know about this. That way, when Master Rufus asks you what happened to me, you don’t have to lie.”

Tamara shook her head. “No way. We’re a group. We tell each other things.”

“Why? So you can tell all our secrets?” Call asked, seeing Tamara flinch. He knew he was being a jerk, but he was unable to stop. “Again?”

“That depends on what you’re doing.” Aaron’s jaw was set the way Call rarely saw it. Usually Aaron was so forgiving, so immensely nice, that Call often forgot that underneath, there was the steel that made him the Makar. “Because if it’s something that’s gonna put you in danger, then I’ll tell the Masters myself. And you can be mad at me instead of her.”

Call swallowed. Aaron and Tamara faced him, blocking the door. “They’re going to kill my dad,” he said.

Aaron’s eyebrows went up. “What?”

“Someone — and I can’t tell you who, you’re just going to have to trust me — said that the Alkahest is missing. And since my dad went on the run, they’re not going to put him in prison or give him a trial —”

“The Alkahest is gone?” Tamara echoed. “Your dad really stole it?”

“There’s a mage prison?” Aaron asked, wide-eyed.

“Sort of. There’s the Panopticon,” Tamara said grimly. “I don’t know that much about it, but it’s a place where you’re always watched. You’re never alone. If your dad really did —”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Call. “They’re going to kill him.”

“How do you know that?” Tamara asked.

Call looked at her for a long moment. “A friend — a real friend — told me what he heard.”

She blanched. “So what are you going to do?”

“I have to find him and get the Alkahest back before that happens.” Call hitched his duffel higher on his shoulder. “If I return it to the Collegium, I can convince the mages that my dad’s no threat to them — or to you. I swear, Aaron, my dad wouldn’t hurt you. I swear he wouldn’t.”

Aaron rubbed a hand over his face. “We don’t want your dad to get hurt, either.”

“Die, not get hurt,” Call insisted. “If I don’t find him, he’s going to be killed.”

“I’m coming with you,” Tamara said. “I can pack in ten minutes.”